Water pressure fingernail cleaning unit

ABSTRACT

An improved water pressure fingernail cleaning unit is provided which includes a housing, and a reciprocally actuated nail brush mounted in the housing and through which high pressure water jets are directed at high pressure under the nails of the user.

[ 1 Sept. 19, 1972 3,210,010 10/1965 Delapena...................239/242CLEANING UNIT E Ed d L R b Primary xaminerwar o erts [72] Inventor:William W. Bliss, 1756 N. Fuller, Ammey jessup & Beecher Los Angeles,Calif. 90046 221 Filed: April 1, 1971 1 1 ABSTRACT [21] Appl' 130,318 Animproved water pressure fingernail cleaning unit is provided whichincludes a housing, and a reciprocally 1 actuated nail brush mounted inthe housing and [52] US. R, 134/172 through which high pressure waterjets are directed at [51] Int. Cl. 7/04 high pressure under the nails ofthe user. [58] Field of Search.............15/2l R, 21 B, 39, 97,3;

[56] References Cited 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS3,081,471 3/1963 Newell.......................15/21D United StatesPatent Bliss [54] WATER PRESSURE FINGERNAIL PATENTEDscmmn 3,591,577

Mam, MKQjAa/L/ WATER PRESSURE FINGERNAIL CLEANING UNIT BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION ing nail brush.

The unit of the invention has great utility in the home and in factoriesand shops. Where a persons nails are excessively dirty, such as in thecase of a mechanic, a solvent may be introduced into the water, so thateven grease and excessive dirt may be quickly and easily scrubbed outfrom under the nails.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective representationof one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the embodiment of FIG. 1. I

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT The unit representedin FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises, for example, an elongated housing which maybe formed conveniently of a suitable plastic material, and whichconstitutes a reservoir for water, or other cleaning liquid. A hood 12is mounted on the top of the housing 10, and it is open at one side, asbest shown in FIG. 2, so as to permit the user to extend his hand aroundthe top of the hood 12 with his fingernails projecting under theright-hand edge of the hood and into its interior. The housing is shapedto form a splash plate, as shown, so that splashed water duringoperation of the unit is returned to the reservoir.

The housing 10 may extend slightly beyond the end of the hood 12, asshown in FIG. 1 to permit it to be placed under a faucet, so that thereservoir in the housing may be filled with water. An overflow slot 14is provided, so that the water will fill only to a particular level.

A fountain-type nail brush 16 is slidably mounted in a guide track 18 atthe top of the housing 10. The nail brush has a plurality of bristles 20which are positioned so that they will extend under the nails of theuser when he extends his fingers under the edge of the hood and into itsinterior. Then, as the brush 16 is moved back and forth, the bristles 20scrub under the nails of the user. The user may place his hand aroundthe hood 12 with his fingers extending under the rim of the hood andinto the interior and against the bristles 20 of the brush 16. Ofcourse, the brush 16 may have its bristles extending in any suitabledirection, and the fingers may be inserted into the housing in a varietyof directions without departing from the concept of the invention.

The brush 16 also has a series of apertures 22 through which highpressure water jets emerge, so that the water is directed at highpressure under the nails of the user, at the same time as the bristles20 perform their scrubbing action. As mentioned above, a suitablesolvent may be included in the water in the reservoir for scrubbing outexcessively dirty fingernails.

' An electrically energized reciprocating pump designated 26 is mountedin the housing within the reservoir, and the pump has a screen intake 28through which the water in the reservoir is drawn. The pump movesreciprocally back and forth, and, at the same time, discharges water athigh pressure through a pipeline 30 which couples the pump to theinterior of the fountain brush 16. Also, as the pump operates, thepipeline 30 moves back and forth as shown by the arrows, and causes thenail brush l6 and the jets 22 to reciprocate at a high speed back andforth within the guide track 18. The pump 26 may be electricallyenergized by an electric cord 34 which may be plugged into any usualalternating current household outlet.

In operating the unit, it is merely necessary to place it under a waterfaucet until water overflows through the slots 14. Then, the pump isenergized, and the fingers are inserted into the unit around the bottomedge of the hood 12. The resulting scrubbing action of the nail brush 16and the action of the high pressure water jets emerging from theapertures 22 quickly and rapidly cleans and scrubs the fingernails. Thebrush 16 may be make replaceable, so that a new brush may be insertedwhen the bristles 20 become worn.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the concept of the inventionembraces units of a. variety of structural compositions which arefeasible in carrying out the function and intendment of the invention.For example, although a reciprocating type brush action is shown anddescribed other brush action is possible. Also the pump may be a rotarytype with appropriate coupling to the brush. Moreover, the water jetsmay be stationary and only the brush may move back and forth across thejets. Therefore, although a particular embodiment of the invention hasbeen shown and described, modifications may be made. All suchmodifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention areset forth in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A fingernail cleaning unit including: a housing defining a reservoirfor cleaning liquid; a hood mounted on the top of the housing and openat one side to permit a user to extend his hand around the top of thehood with his fingernails projecting under the edge of the hood and intothe interior of the housing; a head mounted in said housing fordirecting the cleaning liquid at high pressure at the open side of thehood and under the fingernails of the user; and pump means mounted insaid housing for pumping the cleaning fluid from said reservoir at highpressure to said head.

2. The unit defined in claim 1, in which said head is reciprocallymounted in said housing, and in which said head is mechanically coupledto said pump means, so that said pump means imparts reciprocal movementto said head.

3. A fingernail cleaning unit including: a housing defining a reservoirfor cleaning liquid; a head reciprocally mounted in said housing fordirection the cleaning liquid at high pressure under the fingernails ofthe user; and pump means mounted in said housing for pumping thecleaning fluid from said reservoir at high pressure to said head, saidhead being mechanically coupled to said pump means so that said pumpmeans imparts reciprocal movement to said head, and which includes abrush means mounted on said head.

4. The unit defined in claim 3, in which said brush 5 means is removablymounted on said head.

1. A fingernail cleaning unit including: a housing defining a reservoirfor cleaning liquid; a hood mounted on the top of the housing and openat one side to permit a user to extend his hand around the top of thehood with his fingernails projecting under the edge of the hood and intothe interior of the housing; a head mounted in said housing fordirecting the cleaning liquid at high pressure at the open side of thehood and under the fingernails of the user; and pump means mounted insaid housing for pumping the cleaning fluid from said reservoir at highpressure to said head.
 2. The unit defined in claim 1, in which saidhead is reciprocally mounted in said housing, and in which said head ismechanically coupled to said pump means, so that said pump means impartsreciprocal movement to said head.
 3. A fingernail cleaning unitincluding: a housing defining a reservoir for cleaning liquid; a headreciprocally mounted in said housing for direction the cleaning liquidat high pressure under the fingernails of the user; and pump meansmounted in said housing for pumping the cleaning fluid from saidreservoir at high pressure to said head, said head being mechanicallycoupled to said pump means so that said pump means imparts reciprocalmovement to said head, and which includes a brush means mounted on saidhead.
 4. The unit defined in claim 3, in which said brush means isremovably mounted on said head.